Author: Patrick Padley
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The Catholic belief on birth control is a tough pill to swallow (pun intended). Since I’m a man I often get a look of disbelief when people learn that my wife and I don’t use contraception.

“You really believe in no birth control?”, they say. “Are you planning to have 20 kids?” “I have a friend who’s Catholic and his wife is on the pill.”

Unfortunately, these reactions are the norm (the last one kills me). This is probably in part because according to a study in 2014, 78% of Catholics disagree with the Church’s teaching on contraception.

Despite being in the minority, Nicole and I don’t use contraception. Per the guidance of the Church we have chosen to be open to all that God has to offer, including however many children He wants to bless us with. We want our marriage to match the kind of love God has for us–a love that is free, total, faithful, fruitful (a.k.a., the four components of God’s love for us).

So what do we do, just roll the dice every time we want to get down?

Nope.

Nicole and I use Natural Family Planning, something we have written about here before. So why not contraception? Beyond the Church’s wisdom on this teaching, I thought I should summarize a few reasons why I don’t use contraception and instead choose to use NFP as our method of family planning.

We are thrilled to announce that just over a week ago we became a family of four 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧‍‍‍ ! Although we are exhausted, we are delighted to have a new little blessing!

When J was born, Nicole and I were inspired by other second a day videos. Of course, once we captured our nine-month journey of prepping for our first child we had no choice but to continue this tradition with our second.

(BTW, J is now a crazy toddler, amazing how time flies!)

Adjusting to life with baby M has been a whirlwind and the journey is only beginning. We couldn’t be more in love with her. The Lord has truly outdone Himself, overwhelming us with His Goodness.

So far toddler J seems to be warming up to her nicely, rushing to M’s side with a pacifier in hand at the sound of every whimper.

Thank God for all the beautiful women in my life… now I’m a dad to divas and am slowly getting used to having so much estrogen around. Cheers 🍻 to all the great moments to come.

There are many ways to celebrate Pope Francis’ first visit to America. But what is the best, unfiltered and easiest way to follow Pope Francis’ visit? I thought I would share six ways I’m engaging online during his time in the US and how to get unfiltered, honest, non-secularized news and updates about his visit.

Have you ever met someone and discovered that they were nothing like what you thought they would be? When Nicole and I first met, this happened to her. She put her foot in her mouth all because she thought she knew who I was. But in reality she had just heard about me.

Knowing about someone is not the same as knowing somebody.

In Matthew Kelly’s new book titled Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation, he addresses this exact experience by asking what he calls “the Jesus question”–who do you say that Jesus is?

Have you ever had to make a tough decision? The kind of dilemma that completely overwhelms all your thoughts for days on end. Well, I recently did.

That afternoon, I walked out of the conference room feeling bewildered. How could I leave? I couldn’t understand why I felt that the Holy Spirit was saying, “Your work here is done. Go use your gifts elsewhere.”

When I found out I was going to be a dad it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was exciting and nerve-racking all at once. My mind went a million miles a minute. How can we afford this? Are we going to have to move? Is my wife going to have to quit her job? Where will we put our child? I hope he/she turns out healthy.

Of course worrying is a natural tendency, and something every parent-to-be does.

Before becoming a dad I had a lot of ambitions…in fact, I still do. It’s no secret that becoming a parent is a life-changing event, and with it come new challenges and a lot of questions. Even though it feels like my daughter has been a part of my life forever, I’ve only been on the job for seven months. Lets be real, I’m still a newbie.

About Us

Hi, we are Pat and Nicole! On this blog, we write about our faith, intentional living and the joys and struggles of married life. We share everything from life’s ups and downs to the just plain ridiculous all while keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord. More >>